The Hindu : Judev issue: BJP playing it safe

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003

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National

Judev issue: BJP playing it safe

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 22. The Bharatiya Janata Party's tune on the Judev episode has changed dramatically. When the ``cash on camera'' scandal had first surfaced, party leaders had declared that Dilip Singh Judev, then Minister of State for Environment and Forests, who was asked to resign from his ministerial berth, was in fact the ``hero'' of Chhattisgarh and the party's ``star campaigner''.

But today, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a First Information report against him for accepting Rs. nine lakhs as a bribe, the party said: ``the law will take its own course.''

The CBI action offered an opportunity to the Congress which it did not miss.

The party spokesperson, Jaipal Reddy, charged that the Government had all along known that the videotape showing Mr. Judev accepting cash was true.

But the FIR against him had been delayed to avoid embarrassment for the BJP just ahead of a crucial election campaign in five States.

``All along the Congress had charged that Mr. Judev was guilty of accepting a bribe, the CBI case has shown our stand to be correct,'' the party said.

The BJP spokesperson, V.K. Malhotra, was not willing to say anything more than the bland ``law will take its own course.'' No explanation was forthcoming from the party on how and on what basis had the top leadership given Mr. Judev a clean chit during the campaign and described him as a great asset for the party.

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